A Shared Unease
My heart beat fast in my chest. I felt worried,
and it wouldn't go away. For weeks, the little
metal thing inside me felt strange. I tried
to ignore it. But then, the other werewolves in
our group started acting weird. They seemed
tired all the time, and their eyes looked empty.
I knew something was very wrong.
The air in the old werewolf's house smelled
like dry plants and secrets.
Old Lyra's hands were wrinkly but strong. They
shook a little as she took the hot tea I gave
her. Her eyes usually shone with wisdom, but
now they looked worried, just like me. We sat
quietly by the fire. My worries felt heavy, like I
couldn't breathe. How could I say what I
thought? It felt like I was doing something
bad, and I was scared of what the government
might do.
"Lyra," I started, my voice is soft, "have you…
have you seen anything… different lately?"
She looked at me closely. "Different, Elara?
The moon still comes out, and the forest still
makes its sounds. What's bothering you?"
I waited, the words stuck in my throat. I
trusted Lyra more than anyone, but I was so
scared of the government.
Every heartbeat felt like taking a step into
danger.
"It's… it's the chips," I finally said quickly.
"Since we all got them… I've seen things. The
hunters don't bring back as much food. They
move slowly. Even the young werewolves
seem… quiet."
Lyra held her cup tightly. She looked around
the small room like the walls could hear us.
"Elara, you have to be careful what you say."
Her voice was low, like a warning.
"But you've seen it too, haven't you?" I asked,
feeling more worried. "The blank look in their
eyes, the way they do what they're told without
asking… it's not how we are, Lyra."
Sadness crossed her face. "I have seen… a
kind of… stillness," she said carefully. "But
these are hard times, Elara. The government
helps us, keeps us safe…"
"Safe but not ourselves?" The words came out
louder than I meant. "Don't you feel it, Lyra?
This… slowness… it's like something is being
held back, something important."
The fear in the room was like a wall between
us.
Lyra sighed, sounding tired. "I am an old
werewolf, Elara. I've seen many changes.
The world outside our home isn't always
good.
The government… they have their reasons."
"Reasons to make us like puppets?" I asked,
feeling both scared and angry. "We are
werewolves, Lyra! We are wild, we are strong.
We feel the moon and the earth in a way they
can never understand. This… this chip… it
feels like they're trying to cut that connection."
Her eyes softened, and I saw a bit of the
strong person I knew. "I worry too, child," she
whispered. "The older werewolves have been
talking… strange dreams, bad feelings. But
what can we do? They have the machines, the
weapons…" Her voice stopped, the danger
hanging in the air.
"We can't just do nothing!" I said, feeling more
and more upset. "Don't you see? If we don't
know what these chips are doing, we could
lose everything that makes us who we are."
Lyra reached out and held my hand. Her grip
was surprisingly firm. "Wait, Elara. Be careful.
We need to watch, we need to learn. If we act
too fast, it could be very bad for all of us.
Her words gave me a little hope, but her eyes
still looked scared.
"But how much time do we have?" I asked,
feeling desperate. "Every day, more of
our group seems to fade away. What if we
can't fix it?"
Lyra looked at a small wooden box on a shelf.
It was old, passed down for years, and people
said it held old ways to heal. "There are ways,
Elara," she said slowly, her voice sounding a
little stronger. "Old ways… from before the
government, before the chips. But they are
dangerous, and most have forgotten them."
My heart jumped with hope. "Tell me," I
begged. "Tell me everything."
A dark look came over Lyra's face, and she
hesitated. "These ways are not easy. They
mean fighting back, going against the power
that controls us. If they find out…"
"We have to try," I said quickly, feeling
determined. "For our group, for ourselves. We
can't let fear stop us."
The weight of the past and the fear of
the present felt heavy.
Lyra looked at my face, her eyes searching to
see if I was strong enough. Finally, she
nodded a little. "There is an old way to do
things," she began quietly. "A way to… to stop
the chip from working for a little while, so we
can see clearly again. But we need special
plants, the moon has to be in a certain
position, and… we have to be ready to face the
truth, even if it's terrible."
I shivered, but it wasn't just from being cold. I
felt a bit excited, a bit of the wild feeling I
thought was gone. "Tell me what I need to do,"
I said firmly.
Lyra's instructions were strange, with old
names and warnings. She talked about a
secret place in the woods, lit by a thin moon,
and plants that only grew deep in the forest.
The way to do it sounded risky, like a careful
dance between our werewolf instincts and the
government's machines.
As I got ready to leave, Lyra put her hand on
my arm, her grip is strong. "Elara," she said,
her eyes are full of hope and worry, "be
careful.
The government watches everywhere. If they
think anything is wrong…"
"I will be careful," I promised, my hand going
to the small metal bump on my skin. The
thought of fighting them, of finding out their
secrets, made me feel a little scared but also
strong.
The forest, which used to feel safe, now felt
like a place of hiding and danger.
Leaving Lyra's house, the smell of trees and
wet earth felt different, touched by the worry I
now carried. The moon, a thin silver line in
the dark sky, seemed to watch me. I could feel
the small hum of the chip inside me, always
reminding me of their control.
But now, there was something else too – a bit
of fighting ght in me, a little bit of hope. Lyra's fear
showed the danger, but her telling me about
the old ways made me feel stronger. I wasn't
just Elara, a werewolf in a quiet group. I was
Elara, the one who would find the truth, the
one who would fight to get our wildness back.
As I walked quietly into the dark forest, I felt
more determined. The path ahead was not
safe, but for the first time in a long time, I
knew what I had to do. I would find the secret
place, get the plants, and do the ritual. I had to
know what the chips were really doing to us.
And whatever the truth was, I would face it.
But as I walked deeper into the woods, a small
branch broke behind me. I turned quickly,
listening carefully, but I didn't see anything.
Just the leaves moving in the wind. But I felt
like someone was watching me. And then, a
scary thought came to me: what if Lyra wasn't
just scared for herself? What if they had
already controlled her?
A quiet, spinning sound, almost too soft to
hear over the forest noises, it got louder.
Then, a small red light blinked through the
trees. It was a drone, one of the government's
watchers. And it was coming right towards
me.